The Ace Of Remnant
by Avetho
Summary: In the age of Hunters and Combat Academies, there are those who strive to do the best with the hand they were dealt. Some dive into research to make the Hunters stronger, some become the jack-of-all-trades that can help in any situation. But there are those who seek darker methods to improve the next generation. Follow one such victim as he rises to become the Ace of Remnant!


Theme Song:  
Name: Shining Star Artist: Earth, Wind and Fire

* * *

TRAILER SEQUENCE - EVENING

* * *

A Beowolf is seen wandering in a forest of red trees. A rumbling sound is heard in the distance, appearing to get closer over time. The Beowolf turns to the sound and sees a big black car less than a meter from its face. It doesn't have time to react before it gets crushed easily as the car zooms past. Inside the vehicle in the driver seat is a lightly tanned and large, lean built young man with medium length curly dark green hair and eyes that appear to be closed. He is wearing a dark blue three piece suit with a sun emblem on the left collar, a grey scarf draped behind him, pale gloves close to his skin color, dark green sunglasses and a headset.

The car itself appears to be a sleek luxury car with two large tail fins on the back end and a segmented roof that appears to be able to fold down. It has two big bubble headlights with a yellow half ring on the outside and three cone taillights on each tail fin, the lowermost having a white center and yellow outer ring. The car is raised high off the ground by large, soft and knobby tires. There are two large chrome pipes dumping out the back of the car releasing a faint smoke as the car drives. It also has a big chrome grill on the front.

In the center of the dashboard of the car is a screen that is tilted towards the man. On the screen is an older man with silver hair and brown eyes, wearing a black suit, green small lens glasses and a green scarf. The two men appear to be in conversation.

"I'm telling you Ozpin, something strange is going on with Mount Glen. Grimm are gathering there for some reason, and I can see them coming in, and some of them are even going underneath to the lower city." said the young man.

"Then I will keep an eye on the area, Albion. How have classes been this year, then?" the older man, Ozpin, said.

"Eh, it was okay. Teaching Dust Handling was a new experience this year for me, but it got difficult at one point." replied the young man, Albion, with a slight cringe.

"Was there any trouble you had?" asked Ozpin with a slightly raised eyebrow, having noticed the cringe.

"Uh, well, its that Scarlatina girl. Even when I ask her to calm down, she still lashes out at anyone who mentions her ears, other than her own team of course." Albion said.

"Hm. I have noticed that. She's usually a rather meek one, isn't she?" Ozpin asked.

"Well, yeah. But she's been getting better. The incidents are getting fewer and fewer, and Team Coffee is as tight knit as ever now that the year has finished." Albion replied.

"Indeed they have. I daresay Team Coffee was the strongest of the first year teams." Ozpin added.

"Speaking of first years, who should I look out for this upcoming year?" Albion asked.

"Well, its a good thing this is an isolated line, otherwise Queen could overhear us. I have a few applications so far that are notable. First we have Cardin Winchester, physically a very strong individual who wields a very heavy mace with a Blast Dust crystal in the head, although you would do to look out for his quite racist behavior and cockiness in battle. He also has not unlocked his Semblance yet and has a small group that follows him everywhere." Ozpin began.

"So a potentially strong and slow fighter but a very flawed personality with his own mini gang. Hopefully we can change that." Albion said.

"Hopefully we can. Next we have Yang Xiao Long, daughter of the famous Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven Branwen of Team Stark, she uses two gauntlets with twin shotguns in each to augment her brawler style of fighting and to work with her Semblance which allows her to take damage and reflect it back in her attacks. Ms Xiao Long can get cocky however and it would be wise to never touch her hair which seems to be a trigger for her anger. Visually her eyes turn red when angry and her hair glows if her anger grows enough. When using her Semblance this also happens and her hair can ignite with flames if her anger rises enough or if she absorbs enough damage." Ozpin continued.

"So a very strong brawler with a very literal hair trigger temper. She is essentially a human dragon then, as fitting as her name is." Albion said.

"Definitely seems so. Next we have Blake Belladonna, daughter of the chieftain of Menagerie and a cat faunus, also ex-White Fang and ex-partner of Adam Taurus. She uses a kusarigama pistol hybrid joined by a ribbon to her bladed sheath and uses her Semblance of shadow clones to great effect, even as springboards. She seems to be intent on hiding her heritage for a fresh start away from the White Fang." Ozpin continued.

"So a fugitive looking for a new beginning who most likely specializes in stealth and scouting. She was on that train, right? The one with Weiss Schnee on it?" Albion asked.

"She was, she was also the one who cut off the car with the Paladins and Adam on it, cutting her ties to the White Fang as well. Speaking of which, the next applicant happens to be Weiss Schnee herself. Heiress to the SDC and sister to James's second in command and Atlas Specialist Winter Schnee, Ms Schnee uses a rapier with revolving Dust chambers in a very professional but predictable style of stabbing and slashing, although her use of the Schnee Glyphs and her Dust expertise makes her a formidable Huntress that can hit faster than most can react." Ozpin continued.

"So basically a princess who was trained by high payed tutors in a concealed environment? I can understand why she wrote Mirror Mirror." Albion replied.

"Indeed. There is also Pyrrha Nikos, four time Mistral Regional Tournament champion and top of the school at Sanctum. Ms Nikos uses a combination rifle, xiphos and short-sword along with a hoplon shield. She is incredibly skilled and uses her Semblance of polarity very sparingly, using it to put on a show in the tournaments to make herself appear untouchable. Usually her Semblance usage is so minimal her Aura does not drop. I presume however she did this to put on a show to get more money for her parents, both of whom being retired Hunters due to injury." Ozpin continued.

"So an honorable fighter who appears to be a goddess, though I assume she wanted to come to Beacon to get away from her fame, correct?" Albion asked.

"That does appear to be the case. There is also Jaune Arc, and although his transcripts are false the Arc lineage has never failed to produce very powerful Hunters over the years. His potential is very high. His transcripts say he came from Vacuo Academy for the Gifted, however that was overrun by Grimm three years ago. From what I can tell, young Mr Arc here was not allowed to go down the path of the Huntsman due to the Arc family having shrunk to a single bloodline. It would be safe to assume that he is bringing along the famous Crocea Mors of the Great War era, as well." Ozpin continued.

"So a fake knight then? But one that, with time and effort, can be a very powerful Huntsman? I assume its because of the Arc's naturally giant Aura that allows him this potential?" Albion asked.

"Partly, yes. Although we could call it a gut feeling that he would make a very good team leader as well. The next two applicants are Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, both being survivors of the Kuroyuri Nuckelavee attack. Mr Ren uses twin bladed pistols and is very well versed in Aura techniques, his Semblance allows him to vanish from Grimm senses by muting all emotion of himself or his targets or both. Ms Valkyrie wields a giant war-hammer that fires grenades from the head, also able to act as a simple grenade launcher, her Semblance allows her to absorb electricity to boost her strength. Alongside her incredibly positive and bubbly personality, she appears to have unnatural strength even outside of battle." Ozpin continued.

"So a calm martial artist and a presumably hyperactive hammer wielder. I think we can assume natural electric currents in the air are what give her her strength." Albion replied.

"My thoughts exactly. And finally we have our youngest applicant, Ruby Rose, daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long and perhaps one of the most widely known Huntresses in recent years Summer Rose of Team Stark. She has Silver Eyes, is immature, but is incredibly effective at dismembering and bisecting Grimm. She wields perhaps the most dangerous weapon I have witnessed in years, barely surpassing Qrow's Harbinger as well, it is a combination sniper rifle and scythe that is nearly two feet taller than she is, incredibly sharp blade and very large caliber rounds. She calls it Crescent Rose, stating its name frequently and calling it a she. She coddles her weapon as if it were her own child, although the fact she designed and built it herself warrants some of that." Ozpin finished.

"So a very potent successor to the Grimm Reaper, then? Very nice. How did she get in early?" Albion asked.

"She single-handedly stopped a Dust robbery and defended against Roman Torchwick and his fiery associate until Glynda was able to even the playing field enough that the criminals fled the scene." Ozpin informed.

"So definitely the next Grimm Reaper then. Its too bad Maria lost her eyes to that assassin though, we lost a very potent Huntress that day." Albion replied.

"Indeed we did." Ozpin said with an old look in his eyes.

"Stop beating yourself up over Summer's death, Oz. We don't even know if she died yet anyways. Besides, wherever she might be if she's still kicking I can just stuff her into the Seventh Sanctum and have Aqua heal her up." Albion reminded.

"I understand that, but this gut feeling that things are going downhill has not left ever since Summer never returned." Ozpin informed.

"I get it, Oz. I'm feeling that too." Albion replied.

"How far out are you from Vale?" Ozpin asked.

"About ten minutes. I'll be back in Beacon in less than half an hour." Albion replied.

"Good. You still need to set up your class material for the semester, don't make Glynda have to help you, you remember what happened last year." Ozpin said.

"Oh gods, don't remind me, Oz." Albion shivered.

"Well, safe driving then, Albion." Ozpin replied.

"I'll see you later, Oz." Albion replied before the screen went dark.

The car began to slow down as Albion's senses began to inform him of many strong Grimm converging on his location. He came to a stop in a clearing and jumped out before placing his hand on the door of the vehicle. A white circle glowed around the bottom of the vehicle before it quickly moved upwards, molding around every part of the car as it vanished somewhere. Albion put his hands out before two giant hammers materialized, one black with a white handle and the other white with a black handle. He began to focus on the air around him, sensing how many targets he was about to fight.

"Four Alpha Beowolves, four dozen Beowolves and eight Ursai following a single Ursa Major, a big one too." Albion whispers to himself.

Inside Albion's mind was a different story.

* * *

_Albion:_  
_So, which Semblances are recommended here again?_

_Whitley:_  
_I can accelerate the hammers to hit harder._

_Blaze:_  
_Heat up the air around the hammer heads to burn them, I guess? I'll just light them on fire._

_Aqua:_  
_Set up a mist? We can use that to sense their exact locations, I'll handle telling you where they are._

_Spark:_  
_I can get the hammers charged up! Paralyze them so they can't move!_

_Neon:_  
_I'll just improve your movement speed. That should be enough._

_Prismatic-AI (Prism):_  
_[Engaging Aura leveling system. Aura levels will be synchronized. Engaging target tracking and numeration system. Sealing seventh Aura.]_

_Albion:_  
_Okay then, that'll work. Hey Prism, play Cliffs of Sanus please._

_Prismatic-AI (Prism):_  
_[Now playing: Elric Johnston - Cliffs of Sanus]_

* * *

_[Beowolves 0/48]_  
_[Alpha Beowolves 0/4]_  
_[Minor Ursai 0/8]_  
_[Major Ursai 0/1]_  
_[Aura 100%]_

Back in the Real World, the first Beowolf emerged into the clearing as the hammer heads ignited, Albion's eyelids emitting faint red light briefly, and a mist began to form around him, his eyelids briefly emitting blue.

_[Aura 99.9%]_

Albion's black hammer in his right hand swung quickly into the face of the Beowolf, sending its evaporating and burning remains flying into its now flaming pack-mate and into a tree, his eyelids emitting a faint white glow as his Aura shimmers faintly white around his legs.

_[Beowolves 2/48]_  
_[Aura 99.8%]_

The next three tried to gang up on him to his right but he swung the white hammer through all three in one sweep, killing the first two and igniting the third.

_[Beowolves 5/48]_  
_[Aura 99.7%]_

Two more Beowolves tried to jump him from behind but he kept with the spin from the white hammer and swept both into oblivion with the black hammer, his arms crossed now.

_[Beowolves 7/48]_

A full pack of twelve Beowolves emerged from one side and converged on Albion, who calmly swung both hammers from their crossed over position as lightning jumped from the heads, his eyelids emitting gold briefly, paralyzing the center six and the outer six being bashed away and burned by the hammers.

_[Beowolves 13/48]_  
_[Aura 99.4%]_

Using his momentum from the swings, Albion charged forward and kicked the center left Beowolf, breaking its mask, before spinning to kick the right one and breaking its mask as well, swinging his hammers out to spin into the left two Beowolves, destroying them both.

_[Beowolves 17/48]_  
_[Aura 99.3%]_

A roar from behind signaled the pack's Alpha Beowolf jumping into the fray, which received a kick to the jaw and a white hammer to the side of the face, forcing it down where a black hammer crushed its mask down towards the ground.

_[Alpha Beowolves 1/4]_  
_[Aura 99.1%]_

He jumped away from five more Beowolves to take down the last two, slamming both hammers into their masks, crushing both.

_[Beowolves 19/48]_  
_[Aura 99%]_

In front of him, two Minor Ursai charged and tried to flank him on both sides. Albion very quickly places his hammers on his back before spinning backwards and seeming to grab two broadswords from the air, his eyes shadowed briefly, slashing them through the five Beowolves behind him.

_[Beowolves 24/48]_  
_[Aura 98.7%]_

The broadswords vanished only to be replaced by a large claymore, his eyes briefly shadowed again, that he twisted and swung through the front paws of both Ursai, continuing and accelerating the spin to slash through both masks, albeit exiting the second mask slowly.

_[Minor Ursai 2/8]_  
_[Aura 98.4%]_

Another roar sounded as the claymore was swung back the other way, bisecting the poorly timed Alpha Beowolf.

_[Alpha Beowolves 2/4]_  
_[Aura 98.2%]_

Albion stood in the clearing with the claymore, waiting for his quarry to approach him. From the looks of things, the Grimm have become more cautious of their prey who still appears calm, if not very slightly winded. A growl was his only normal warning before a small squad of six Beowolves charged at him, Albion turning to swing through them all as six more Beowolves charged from his blind spot. The first six were bisected as the blade slowed down when the other six neared his back.

_[Beowolves 30/48]_  
_[Aura 97.9%]_

As Albion swung the claymore back around, barely missing the last Beowolf as it ducked, the Alpha charged his back.

_[Beowolves 35/48]_  
_[Aura 97.7%]_

The Beowolf he missed leapt forward to tackle Albion into its Alpha where the Alpha swung its paws upwards, sending both Beowolf and Albion into the air, Albion's Aura dimly flickering red around his chest where he got slammed.

_[Beowolves 36/48]_  
_[Aura 93.3%]_

From the air, Albion sent away his claymore and drew his hammers again. He spun forwards and came down atop the Alpha Beowolf, crushing it into the ground and cratering the forest floor, sending a small pack of four Beowolves flying backwards.

_[Alpha Beowolves 3/4]_  
_[Aura 92.4%]_

Albion stood up again where he quickly sheathed his hammers, seemingly drawing a long rifle with a wooden body and carvings in the chrome barrel from the air, his eyes shadowed slightly as he did so. He quickly raised the rifle and began to shoot at each Beowolf that he knocked back from his landing, his eyes shadowing briefly with each shot.

_[Beowolves 40/48]_  
_[Aura 92.2%]_

A loud howl sounded out in front of him from the forest. Eight more Beowolves charged out of the woods on either side with startling speed. The rifle vanished only to be replaced by a glowing blue bladed sword with carvings in the blade. Albion swung the blade left, a wave of ice freezing the four Beowolves solid where he spun and swung through the other four, freezing their remains as well. The blade then vanished again.

_[Beowolves 44/48]_  
_[Aura 91.4%]_

He drew his hammers and shattered the four frozen Beowolves to his left, before crossing them to block a strike from the Alpha in front of him. This Alpha had more red markings than the other three did, indicating its age.

_[Beowolves 48/48]_  
_[Aura 91%]_

Albion flipped backwards, kicking the Alpha in the face as he disengaged from the lock. He opened his ember colored eyes partway and he and the Alpha stared each other down before they both charged forward and he slammed his hammers into the ground just in front of the Alpha. His eyes glowed blue as a puddle of water splashed out under him and then glowing gold as a current of electricity ran through the Alpha, paralyzing it.

_[Aura 90%]_

Albion sheathed his hammers as he touched the Alpha, now realizing it to be an Elder Beowolf, his ember eyes darkening as a white ring formed under it before moving upwards, molding around the Grimm. Within the Seventh Sanctum near the center Plaza of the space, the Alpha Beowolf landed before it was thrown towards what appeared to be a kitchen. The Alpha soared into that space before bursting into flames and turning into ash within seconds. The ashes then began to accelerate towards the center of the Plaza where they entered a crystal that seemed to bend light like a prism. A flash of silver light sparked with each particle that entered.

_[Alpha Beowolves 3/3]_  
_[Elder Beowolves 1/1]_  
_[Aura 80%]_

Albion winced slightly as he felt the draw on his Aura. He closed his ember eyes and redrew his claymore from the air, turning to block the hit of a Minor Ursa which pushed him back slightly.

_[Aura 79.8%]_

He pushed back the Ursa before rushing in and beheading it with one slice. Three more Ursai emerged in a frenzy towards him.

_[Minor Ursai 3/8]_  
_[Aura 79.7%]_

Albion drew another claymore for his other hand and spun at the Ursai, his eyelids emitting faint white light and the faint white Aura around his legs glowing slightly brighter. The claymores bisected all three Ursai, the first getting stuck in the final Ursa's front leg before vanishing and the second claymore moved above the first two to come down on the last Ursa's head on an angle, killing it.

_[Minor Ursai 6/8]_  
_[Aura 78.8%]_

Caught off guard by the claymore not going through the last Ursa's head, Albion got slammed in the back by another Ursa.

_[Aura 76.1%]_

Rolling with the hit, the claymore vanished only for Albion to draw briefly a green glowing blade with carvings on it. The blade flashed as it swiped almost too fast to track right through the Ursa's head. The blade vanished in short order right afterwards.

_[Minor Ursai 7/8]_  
_[Aura 75%]_

Albion got hit in the back again by another Ursa, this time spinning in the air from the hit as he drew a pistol with a wooden body and carvings on the chrome barrel. The gun bucked in his hand as it fired a round right into the Ursa's forehead, stunning it with electricity. As he landed however, he got slammed hard into a tree by a giant Ursa paw, the pistol vanishing as well.

_[Aura 63.8%]_

Albion, to his credit, recovered remarkably quickly from such a brutal hit, before he drew a yellow glowing blade with carvings on it. He charged at a blistering speed at the Major Ursa and slashed at its front legs, causing it to fall forward before Albion slashed in half the smaller Ursa, the blade vanishing soon after.

_[Minor Ursai 8/8]_  
_[Aura 62.3%]_

The large Ursa got back to its feet before stalking around Albion, who himself just relaxed slightly to regain his breath as he opened his ember eyes partway after realizing this is an Elder Ursa.

_[Major Ursai 0/0]_  
_[Elder Ursai 0/1]_

He drew the hammers from his back in a very fast move just as the Ursa charged in to swipe him into another tree. Albion landed a pincer hit on the Ursa's mask, cracking its bone plating but losing grip on his hammers as they stayed in their indentations on the Ursa's mask as Albion was instead headbutted backwards and cracking a tree with his impact.

_[Aura 55.6%]_

Albion reached out his hands backwards and flexed his Aura, suddenly getting pulled back to the Ursa as his hands let out jets of blue flame, pushing him even faster. His feet made contact with the Ursa, cracking its mask badly and dislodging the two hammers which began to orbit around him, his hands no longer flaming.

_[Aura 49.7%]_

The Ursa recovered quickly and charged Albion who grabbed his hammers and put them on his back. He ducked at the last moment and slid underneath the Ursa's paw, reaching up to touch its underbelly where a ring of white formed around the Ursa's feet. As Albion slid out from under the Ursa, the ring molded to the Ursa and swept upwards, sending it into the Seventh Sanctum, where it was thrown towards a room that looked like a clinic with a sauna room inside it. As the Ursa entered the space between that and the Plaza, a sudden storm of lightning vaporized the Ursa in seconds, the ashes being consumed by the crystal in the Plaza soon after.

_[Elder Ursai 1/1]_  
_[Aura 31.4%]_  
_[Encounter finished. 48 Beowolves, 3 Alpha Beowolves, 1 Elder Beowolf, 8 Minor Ursai and 1 Elder Ursai have been defeated.]_

After closing his ember eyes, Albion bent forward suddenly as if he were punched in the gut. He breathed deeply for a few seconds before straightening up and taking a single deep breath to calm down.

* * *

_Albion:_  
_Prism, I need some more Aura please._

_Prismatic-AI (Prism):_  
_[Refilling Aura reserves from seventh Aura.]_

_Albion: Thank you._

* * *

_[Aura 100%]_  
_[Reserve Aura 92%]_

"Whew, what a workout. Got two more Alphas absorbed too. That was a pretty old Ursa though, I can still feel it being assimilated and purified though. Wow." Albion says to himself as he wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead.

He then looked down and focused, a white ring forming on the ground before forming to some shape, his black car being formed in front of him. He opened the door and jumped into the driver's seat before focusing and causing a white ring to form on the seat beside him, the ring molding into two shapes, one becoming an Atlesian Husky and the other what appears to be a mini Ash tree that can move on its own.

"Hey Akira, Ash. You saw that battle?" Albion asked his companions as he looked down with a soft smile.

"Yes, it was pretty good as always, Master." the Husky, Akira, replied in a strange feminine voice.

"It... was... cool... Mas... ter." replied the Ash tree, aptly named Ash, very slowly with a childish feminine voice.

"Well, lets head back to Vale now. You up for it?" Albion asked, getting nods from both as he smiled.

As the roof slid down to store itself behind the back seats, Akira settled down with her head resting on Albion's lap as Ash wound herself around Albion's shoulders. The car then set off towards the city of Vale whose walls could be seen in the distance from above the tree cover, the makeshift family setting off in peace and quiet.

* * *

ALBION'S PREMONITIONS - NIGHTTIME

* * *

_A black haired maiden sneaks into a tower and plugs into one of the desks, a black Queen piece on the screen after she escapes a black haired reaper in high heels._

_A ginger haired girl is ripped apart by her own weapons by a red haired girl who collapses in shock, watching the sparks fly off the ginger haired girl._

_A floating stadium burns in the sky as a city burns below, a black Queen chess piece on the screens._

_A red haired champion lays down in a glass pod by a grey haired headmaster as a blonde haired knight stands guard._

_A blond haired knight is knocked aside by a black haired maiden._

_A black haired patient is shot by a glass arrow from a black haired maiden._

_A grey haired headmaster yells at a red haired champion and a blonde haired knight to run._

_A grey haired headmaster is turned to ash by a black haired maiden but not before he smirks at her._

_A black haired maiden stands atop a tower with both eyes aflame as a giant black dragon flies about._

_A red haired champion gives a blonde haired knight a kiss as she pushes him into a rocket powered locker before rushing into the tower._

_A blond haired brawler loses an arm as a red blade slices it off, a black haired ninja getting stabbed in the side soon afterwards._

_A green haired professor fires a rifle three times at the black haired maiden on the tower, hitting her shoulder, eye and neck as the dragon approaches the tower._

_A black haired reaper runs from a white haired heiress up a tower and sees the dying red haired champion before turning to the black haired maiden and seeing silver._

_A black haired maiden is blasted by silver energy and thrown from the tower as the giant black dragon is turned to stone from its place on the tower._

_A green haired professor blasts fire behind himself as he flies to the tower where he sends the red haired champion and the black haired reaper into a virtual space._

_A blue haired nurse takes both the red haired champion and the black haired reaper to a truck before driving to an infirmary through a tsunami._

_A red haired champion is placed on a bed and hooked in to life support as a white haired magician types something into a console by a crystal._

_A red haired champion is flooded with an Aura of several colors from her place in bed._

_A black haired scientist is watching a green haired professor from afar as he chuckles to himself while writing down notes._

* * *

ALBION'S AWAKENING - MORNING

* * *

Albion's ember eyes snap open and he shoots up out of bed in his room within Beacon Academy where he pants in fright as sweat covers his body. On his bed, two white circles form an Ash tree and an Atlesian Husky. Albion clenches his ember eyes shut and sits back down, letting Akira and Ash comfort him as he calms down and catches his breath.

"Bad dream?" Akira asked in her strange wolf-like voice.

"More like one too real to be anything but a premonition." Albion replied, relaxing his ember eyes.

"See... fu... ture?" Ash asked.

"A most likely one. Even though the premonitions are helpful, they can get annoying. They only get clearer the more Elder Grimm I absorb." Albion replied.

"Tell Ozpin?" Akira asked.

"What do you two think I should do?" Albion asked.

"Tell." both Akira and Ash said.

"Okay then. Give me about a minute." Albion said.

Albion stood up from the bed before focusing on the Seventh Sanctum.

Within the Seventh Sanctum, a computer requested an outfit from one of the crates lining the shelving units. A robotic arm ran along its rails to a different crate that opened like a shutter, revealing several bags of outfits. The arm reached out and grabbed one off the hook, driving to the entrance of the vault where the terminal is and placing the bag down on a table. Another arm grabbed the bag from the table and retracted to the vehicle it is a part of, which is a passenger truck. The bag is laid across the rearmost seats and the arm retracts as the truck accelerates towards the central Plaza. The truck comes to a stop with a slide, resting with a concrete pad to its immediate right. The arm comes out and rests the bag on the pad before retracting.

A white circle forms on the bed where a bag containing an outfit appears. Albion picks up the bag and changes out of his pajamas, putting on the outfit. He is now wearing a dark blue suit with a grey scarf, dark blue pants and black shoes. He opens his hand where a comb appears in a white circle and attempts to comb his curly hair somewhat to get himself ready for the day. The comb, pajamas and the bag in his hands vanish and are sent back to the Seventh Sanctum.

Albion picks up a black Scroll from his nightstand as well as a flask of strong drink, stowing the Scroll in the left side of his suit. After taking a swig of the drink and pocketing it, he then opens his door and enters the hallway, locking the door with his scroll from his pocket. He takes a runner's stance and focuses his Aura. He takes off at a blistering sprint down the halls, shaking windows as he passes. Within the minute, he arrives at an elevator and presses the up button, waiting and stepping in when it opens.

He arrives in an office to see a man with white hair in a black suit with a green scarf and small green glasses look up from his computer terminal to greet him.

"Good morning Albion. What brings you to my office so early?" Ozpin asked.

"I had another one." Albion said with a grave tone, setting Ozpin on edge.

"I take it this is a serious one then?" Ozpin asked, getting a nod in return.

Ozpin then entered a code on the terminal which caused metal shutters to close over the windows and the door as Albion took a seat in front of Ozpin.

"Now, tell me what happened in this premonition, if you please." Ozpin said as Albion opened his ember eyes.

"Okay, so it started with a black haired woman sneaking into a tower and plugging something into the desk, she ran away from a short black haired girl in high heels that was carrying a scythe and the screen showed a black symbol." Albion's ember eyes began to widen.

"A ginger haired girl was ripped apart by her own floating sword cables by a red haired girl with a spear and shield by accident, and sparks flew from her body." Albion said, wavering slightly.

"There was also a giant floating building on fire, a city underneath it was burning as well, and the screens had the same black symbol on them as the tower." Albion's face paled slightly.

"Then there was that red haired girl with the spear and shield laying down in this glass pod, a white haired man with a cane stood by with a blond haired boy with a sword and shield." this caused Ozpin to raise an eyebrow.

"Afterwards the blonde was knocked aside by that black haired woman." Albion showed signs of losing himself to the vision.

"A black haired girl with a scar on her face in the other glass pod was shot by the black haired woman." Albion flinched at the memory, prompting Ozpin to narrow his eyes slightly.

"The white haired man told the red haired girl and the blonde boy to run." Albion's ember eyes had glazed over. Ozpin stood from his desk.

"The white haired man then was turned to ash by the black haired woman before smirking at her." Ozpin flinched at what that meant as he approached Albion.

"The black haired woman then is at the top of a ruined tower and a large black mass is flying around the tower." Albion's ember eyes began to shake as Ozpin reached his friend.

"The red haired girl gave the blonde boy a kiss and sent him away in a rocket locker." Ozpin placed a comforting hand on Albion's shoulder.

"A blonde haired girl then lost an arm to a red blade and a black haired girl with a cleaver and cat ears was stabbed by the same blade." Ozpin's expression became concerned.

"A green haired man then shot the black haired woman three times from the bottom of the tower with a rifle." Ozpin knew who these people were.

"The short black haired girl with the scythe then ran away from a white haired girl with a rapier up the side of the tower only to see the red haired girl dying and the view turned silver when she turned to the black haired woman and the black mass on the tower." Ozpin's eyes widened as he realized what seeing silver meant.

"The black haired woman was thrown from the tower missing an arm and was bleeding as the large black mass turned gray and stopped moving." Ozpin nodded to himself in confirmation of his suspicions.

"The green haired man flew up to the top of the tower where he touched the red haired girl and short black haired girl causing both to vanish." Ozpin then knew this definitely meant his friend was involved.

"A blue haired woman then took the two girls who vanished to an infirmary using a vehicle of some kind." Ozpin recalled what Albion described his other souls looked like.

"The red haired girl is hooked up to some machines as a white haired man types at a crystal console." Ozpin nodded to himself again, knowing Albion saw his Seventh Sanctum.

"The red haired girl is then surrounded in many colors." Ozpin noted this ability is presumably healing.

"And then a black haired man watches that green haired man from afar, seeming to write something down while chuckling to himself." Albion finished, shaking slightly.

The silence went on for a minute as Albion closed his ember eyes and got his breathing under control. Ozpin took this time to sort out what the premonition meant.

* * *

Ozpin's thoughts:

From what he gathered, someone from Salem's circle is going to infiltrate the CCT to install a virus of some sort during the Beacon dance on the assumption that Ms Rose was in attendance and made to wear heels by Ms Xiao Long. The symbol was likely a Black Queen piece. The Amity Colosseum is then attacked after a lifelike android is killed by Ms Nikos by accident due to her Polarity Semblance. Then he takes Ms Nikos and Mr Arc down to Amber to transfer the Maiden powers to Ms Nikos. This person from Salem's circle is the same one that stole Amber's power. Mr Arc is then tossed aside while defending Ms Nikos and Amber is killed. He himself tells both students to run while he distracts the new Maiden and he ends up dead because he used his power to begin to Maiden transfer to Ms Nikos, although he seemed to have a plan. The Maiden stands atop the CCT in his office while a giant flying Grimm flies about the tower. Ms Nikos kisses Mr Arc and sends him away in a rocket locker before running to fight the Maiden. The red blade is presumably Adam Taurus or Raven Branwen, although the blonde girl is likely Ms Xiao Long which rules out Raven, and the black haired girl is definitely Ms Belladonna seeing as Adam is her ex partner and that the figure has cat ears. The green haired man is certainly Albion, who shoots the Maiden atop the tower from afar. The short black haired girl can only be Ms Rose due to the Silver Eyes and the scythe, and she ran towards the tower from Ms Schnee who likely helped her up the tower using Glyphs. The Maiden is damaged badly and sent off the tower, the flying Grimm turned to stone. Albion then flies up the CCT and sends the critically injured Ms Nikos and unconscious Ms Rose into the Seventh Sanctum to heal. The blue haired woman is Aqua, one of Albion's souls, who takes the two girls to the infirmary to heal them up. The white haired man is Whitley, one of Albion's souls, commanding Albion's full Aura to suffuse Ms Nikos completely to heal her, hence the many colors. The black haired man appears to be a part of an organization of some sort related to Albion but doesn't appear to be affiliated with Salem.

* * *

"This was very helpful, Albion. I believe I know what steps I can take to prevent this from happening." Ozpin reassured.

"Okay then. What should we do then, Oz?" Albion asked as he opened his ember eyes.

"I should start by telling you something only the closest in my merry band of misfits knows, that is to say only Qrow, James and Glynda. Have you ever heard the story of the Seasons?" Ozpin asked as he returned behind his desk.

"Yeah, that's the one with the four Seasonal Maidens, right? Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter?" Albion asked.

"Yes. Do you recall how there is an old man in the story that grants each Maiden their powers?" Ozpin asked, turning to face Albion.

"Are you telling me that you're that old man?" Albion asked.

"That I am. The story of the old man is a very long and tragic one. In short, I am Ozma, the knight who fell in love with and rescued Salem, the beautiful long blonde haired sorceress stuck in the tower several thousand years ago. I died, and she asked the brother gods to revive me, but they sought to teach her a lesson about the cycle of life and death. I say they went too far in cursing her with true immortality. She jumped into one of the dark god's Grimm pools to kill herself and came out looking how she does today. She gained a fragment of his power and became able to control the Grimm. I am cursed to reincarnate into a like-minded host until the day I kill Salem myself, which seems to require the Silver Eyed Warriors, a fragment of the light god's power, to defeat the fragment of the dark god's power." Ozpin explained as he began to pace back and forth.

"But you haven't been able to because you have been backed into a corner and are missing the right pieces to win this game of chess, right?" Albion asked as Ozpin stopped pacing and widened his eyes slightly in mild shock.

"That is rather astute of you. Yes, one could look at this all like a few millennia long game of chess, especially with the chess code names such as Black Queen which is what we call Salem. It is only now that the game is getting very tense, that I have but a few moves I could possibly use to win, with all other numerous paths leading to my final failure. Even worse is that I cannot see each move as it happens, meaning I cannot see ahead in the game to determine if I am winning or not." Ozpin explained as he began pacing again.

"So a win would be killing Salem and you resting in peace? And a loss being the death of all Humanity?" Albion asked as Ozpin flinched and stopped pacing at the end of his first question.

"Exactly. May I ask how you came to that first conclusion?" Ozpin asked with narrowed eyes and a sideways glance.

"You said you've been reincarnating for thousands of years. Anyone would get very tired over that time, even if you have a goal that takes that long to achieve. It only makes sense that you'd want to be released from this cycle of life and death and reincarnation, dying hundreds of times only to be reborn in the same world of bloody evolution is not a good way to spend your unlimited time as an immortal being. Besides, you look tired when you are convinced nobody is watching. I can see where the unnatural attraction to coffee and all things caffeinated comes from." Albion replied with a thin smile, prompting Ozpin to sigh and shut his eyes.

"I can tell now that my first choice for my replacement as Headmaster was certainly not unfounded. You seem to have my ability to read people, to see into their souls." Ozpin said, turning slightly to face Albion.

"I'm your first choice?" Albion asked in mild shock.

"You certainly seem to hold the qualities that a Headmaster ought to, including the overwhelming power to defend their students and the speed required to reach any in need." Ozpin replied.

"Why bring this up?" Albion asked.

"In your premonition, I gathered that I die at the hands of this Maiden who stole Amber's powers. From what I see, she also attempts to kill Ms Nikos who I have been considering even now as a possible candidate for the transfer of the Maiden abilities using Atlas technology as well as position as Headmistress upon her graduation. From what I know of the ammunition you use as well as the force behind a large release of Silver Eye powers, if the Maiden survived the retaliation she would have lost an eye, an arm, and the ability to speak. So in short, that Maiden would be disadvantaged and I would be reincarnating, leaving you as my qualified successor as Beacon Headmaster. Your skills with architecture would also lend you a great boon with restoring Beacon to its current condition as well." Ozpin explained.

"Well, okay, I can see the logic in that. But we need to take steps to prevent your death, too. We don't have enough time to have you reincarnate and retrain your new body to your current power." Albion replied.

"So we develop new technology based upon your Prismatic Crystal. Perhaps bind my body to the Seventh Sanctum so that I enter there rather than being turned to ashes. Or we develop an Aura injector that can restore my Aura enough to survive the Maiden's final attack." Ozpin suggested.

"Or we create a new body that we can be certain is a like-minded host. All I need is to make a genetic clone of you, which won't be alive until you inhabit it, keep it at the same conditions as a living body while preserving it with my Aura, and anchor you and the body both with a Soul Tether. All you have to do is imbue both tethers with your own Aura inside the Seventh Sanctum and wear one of them across your chest and the other on the chest of the clone. That way when your current body dies, your soul will travel to the empty body since the Soul Tether makes it seem like the most like-minded individual. Your presence will cause the machines around to get the heart beating and the lungs breathing, all you'll have to do is get used to using the muscles in that body. It shouldn't be a problem keeping your current neural pathways, if I use a flash-clone, the damage caused will be repaired by my Aura and the brain will be exactly like yours right now." Albion suggested.

"That sounds like a grand idea." Ozpin said genuinely as he sat down and Albion closed his ember eyes, stood up and turned to walk to the elevator.

"Well, then I gotta get to rapidly growing a fake you within me." Albion said before stopping his walk to the elevator.

Both men paused and thought about those words.

"That sounded so weird." Albion said.

"No kidding." Ozpin said with a deadpan expression as he typed a code in the terminal, the shutters rising again.

"I just said something that almost sounded like I was saying I'll get pregnant. Holy crap." Albion said as he looked to the ceiling.

"Not a sentence I ever thought I would hear you say." Ozpin said.

"I never thought I would ever say something like that either." Albion said.

Both men stayed paused in both thoughts and action for several awkward seconds.

"Well, see you Oz. I gotta check on Professor Peach soon, so good luck with the paperwork." Albion said, walking to the elevator and pressing the button.

"Don't remind me. I'll just get Glynda to do some." Ozpin replied.

"Ah, but remember how she didn't like having to help me? What makes you so sure she'll help you?" Albion asked as the doors opened.

"Just leave me in peace, Al, I wish to at least get something done now, especially with what's coming." Ozpin said.

"Sure. Happy thoughts, Oz, happy thoughts." Albion said walking into the now open elevator.

The doors closed with Albion giving a wave goodbye with a closed eye smile and the elevator whirred on its way down the tower.

"Whatever would I do without you, Al?" Ozpin said to himself as he shook his head.

* * *

Probably the readers: "WOAH WOAH WOAH, WHAT?!"

**A/N: Okay, yes, before you go all batshit on me, with my theory of Aura in place, it fits everything up to now in RWBY canon. Lifeforce is tied to Aura, and almost nobody has the level of mental fortitude to keep drawing their Aura out when its empty. Albion and Ozpin are two people who certainly can, Glynda Goodwitch can for a short time at least, Peter Port has done so many times and as such his Lifeforce has grown to keep him young for longer, Bartholomew Oobleck can also do this by virtue of his mindset and caffeine addiction, Professor Peach can due to her condition, and James Ironwood can by virtue of his half mechanical body dulling pain. There is also going to be one character from Albion's past that far overdrew their Aura and ended up dying, but coming back to life by mysterious circumstances, aka; a new Grimm type.**

**Oh, and Easter egg, that song Albion asked for should be obvious. Elric Johnston's Cliffs of Sanus is a mirror of Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover.**

**Another fun fact is that Albion _seems to keep his eyes closed for no apparent reason._**

_Author's Tidbit:_  
_Some students in past years have come up with theories on why this is the case, but all the formerly delinquent students know that it is generally a bad sign should you see his eyes open. Even those students don't believe they saw the right eye color given they thought they were looking into hellfire. A common rumor is that he can sense his surroundings using the air given that no student has been able to pull a prank on him or sneak up on him, even Faunus students. These attempts at pranking are a small source of student body unity as Humans and Faunus band together to attempt to sneak up on Professor Parks or to pull a prank. Albion, even when presented with evidence, ignores that the pranking and sneaking even happens, disregarding it as simple rumors, a point of contention with Glynda but something that he and Ozpin chuckle about behind closed doors. Albion subtly encourages this behavior while enforcing the idea of getting homework done should they wish to have their brand of fun, this is because they can gain experience in thinking outside the box and sneak tactics when trying to catch him off guard._

**And you may have noticed and/or gotten annoyed by how many times I kept repeating "ember eyes" in this Prologue chapter. There is great significance in this little piece of usually inconsequential information, and it will indeed become clearer once Albion's family tree is revealed in one scene, especially so when other characters come in and are mentioned in this light. Ember is a very specific color after all as it is not orange, not amber, not golden, not sunset, but a one of a kind color.**

**Now! Question corner! Let's let Albion answer some stuff.**

"Okay then. Fire away buddy."

**Okay, just how old is Peter Port?**

"Well, Peter is far older than you might think. He happens to have a titanic Aura capacity and regeneration rate and his Lifeforce is several times the size of an average Huntsman. He also knows very complex Aura techniques. He only uses a blunder-axe because it's easy to maintain, as well as the fact he prefers getting close to his prey. And his stories, they're all true in the end, no matter how absurd they may seem and despite the stranger details being embellished. He does this to train students to pick out important details from an otherwise monotonous stretch of words. One example is his explanation of how to defeat a Boarbatusk on the first day of class where young Ms Schnee had a difficult time because Atlas has no Boarbatusks and she was distracted by the distracting young Ms Rose. Put more simply, Peter happens to be the strongest retired Huntsman on Remnant, but his sheer power is unsuited for the silent war against Salem until we take the fight to her domain. Think of him like a trump card."

**Wow. That is rather amazing. So that's how people can live longer then. I wish I could do that too. Okay, new question, does anyone else learn to overdraw their Lifeforce?**

"Well, I can say this now since it's likely nobody will remember. Young Mr Arc learns how to overdraw his Aura. A person's Lifeforce is determined by their Aura size. Because the Beacon staff all have massive Auras from extensive experience and training, they have plenty of Lifeforce. The larger your Lifeforce, the easier it is to draw out. In the Battle at Haven, Jaune was really low on Aura when Weiss got stabbed, so he drained his Aura to heal her and threw up blood from the sudden drop in Lifeforce. Those two really are made for each other, its a shame she never saw that early enough."

**What about your plans for the flash cloning of Ozpin? Did that work out?**

"Okay, so Ozpin reincarnates into a like-minded host, right? Lets just say my plans don't completely fail. He and I are also old friends too ever since I graduated Beacon by virtue of both having multiple souls. And this flash cloning ends up helping a foolish Hoplite in the future."

**Okay, nice foreshadowing going on there. And what about how overpowered you are?**

"I may seem overpowered, but my power levels stagnated as my endurance went up. Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, CRDL and SSSN caught up to me somewhat by about a year after we went to Argus."

**And can Aura be punctured?**

"Yes, it can, although the threshold is very high despite dropping as Aura levels drop. A vaccine needle at the speed of a baseball shot from a pitching machine can pierce my Aura. The threshold drops by half when Aura is empty, which leads into the fact some people can push their Aura Shield up even when using Lifeforce. This also happens to be how Qrow gets stung by Tyrian, because Qrow's Aura Shield running on his Lifeforce was too weak to prevent the sting despite making it a glancing blow."

**What about Semblances? How are those affected by Lifeforce?**

"Winter Schnee's words on Semblances are correct, it's like a muscle you train. You can use it even if your Aura ran out because you can push your muscles to move even if your ATP is almost gone if you have adrenaline left. Of course, its much harder to move but you can move it."

**So what about the difference between Active and Passive Semblances?**

"An active Semblance is like moving your bicep, it won't move unless you tell it to. A passive Semblance is like your diaphragm or like your heart, and those are in fact different, the former being classified as Passive-A and the latter being Passive-B."

**What about an example?**

"Well, Type-A is Qrow Branwen, he can force it to work faster by using Aura and he can stop it for a short time before it moves again, hence his drinking."

"Type-B is Yang where it's always active in some way. Think of how when you get really mad or when you get hurt your heart beats faster. Likewise, Yang's hair glows and ignites and her eyes turn red in both situations. The inverse is also true, your heart beats slower when depressed, Yang's eyes turn blue and her hair loses its luster, this is why depression can damage your health. With training, it's possible to raise your heart rate without moving, which is some of Yang's training, which is to activate her Semblance without anger or damage. Yang's eye color is a blood-flow dependent mechanism that alters eye color between two different genes, resting normally on a lilac mixture."

**That's interesting stuff.**

"And for those who are wondering, Taiyang uses tonfas and fights with a boxing style incorporating the tonfas as blunt striking weapons and hard defense against blades or claws. They operate like Ember Celica as Dust shotguns."

What about some quirks about Semblances?

"Ah, some Semblances also are tied to a specific part of the body. The only well known cases are with Adam Taurus and Yang Xiao Long. Yang's hair is an element of her Semblance, hence why it's gold compared to Taiyang's dirty blonde and why it changes color. In Adam's case, his hair and any red metal bonded to his Aura such as his sword glow bright red as they store energy from his Semblance. It would have been intelligent for Adam to let his hair grow long, but conditions in the mines made him cut it short. In the world of Semblances, it does seem that energy gets stored in the hair."

**A/N: The square brackets are Prism's notifications. Albion doesn't receive those in this manner, he gets updates as a feeling in his mind in real time. These are for reader comfort in knowing what his status currently is. There is no Gamer in this if that was what you were wondering.**

**Any-who, look forward to Chapter 1 of the story! It begins at the same time as RWBY Episode 1 thereabouts in the timeline. And sorry for those waiting on the other stories on my profile, my muse is all over the place and I can't seem to focus on them, especially with college right around the corner and a brand new career path within the engineering field. So wish me luck or pray for me or send your well wishes, whatever suits you, my breaking mind might need it! Hehehe! Well, Avetho signing off then, I guess.  
**

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